Dying Alice's bucket list inspires global outpouring of internet love

Asher Moses

A 15-year-old girl with terminal cancer is smiling after her "bucket list" went viral on the internet and inspired an outpouring of support from around the world.

Support from celebrity tweeters including Justin Bieber and Katy Perry has generated so much exposure that almost everything Alice Pyne wants to do before she dies will be granted.

Alice's Hodgkin's lymphoma - cancer of the white blood cells - is spreading through her body and she may have just weeks to live. The girl, from the northwest English town of Ulverston, created a blog on Monday, "Alice's Bucket List", to catalogue her final days and talk about her final wishes.

Alice with her younger sister Milly and mum Vicky.

"It doesn't look like i'm going to win this one. The cancer is spreading through my body," she wrote on her blog.

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"It's hard because I gave it my all. And it's a pain because there's so much stuff I still want to do. Anyway, Mum always tells me that life is what we make of it."

Within days the blog was going viral and yesterday #alicebucketlist was one of the top trending topics on Twitter. Celebrities including Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Johnny Depp, Channing Tatum, footballer Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Seacrest helped spread the word about her plight.

Alice in hospital going through her get-well cards.

On her list were things like swimming with sharks, encouraging people to become bone marrow donors, visiting Kenya, entering her labrador Mabel in a dog show, having a photo shoot with her friends, throwing a private cinema party, meeting the band Take That, staying in a caravan, going whale watching, buying a purple iPad, going to Cadbury World ("and eat loads of chocolate"), having a back massage and having her hair done.

Alice, who was diagnosed with cancer almost four years ago and has undergone extensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments, was inspired by 2008 movie The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. They play terminally ill patients who go on a road trip fulfilling their last wishes before they "kick the bucket".

By Wednesday in Britain Alice's plight had spread so far and wide that she was mentioned by an MP, John Woodcock, during question time.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said: "I am sorry to hear about the situation facing Alice and what she's going through, and our thoughts go out to her and her family."

On Thursday Alice published a new blog post saying she could now cross off most things from her list after countless strangers pledged their support.

"I'm off to see Take That this weekend, can you believe it?," she wrote.

"I am so excited and really can't wait, I just hope that I don't get ill or something daft. I've lived in PJs for about a year so mum is going to town to buy some things to bring back for me to try.

"It also looks like the other things I wished to do are being organised so thank you to everyone for that. I feel a very lucky girl."

But out of all the successes to come from her bucket list campaign, Alice wrote that she was happiest with the huge uptick in people pledging to join bone marrow donation schemes.

Some of her wishes - including travelling to Kenya and being a dolphin trainer - she will never be able to fulfil as she cannot travel outside Britain.

Alice makes clear in her blog that she was never seeking cash donations and only started the blog so she could share her final days with her friends and family.

She wrote that anyone who wanted to donate money could send it to the British charity Post Pals, which supports sick children, or sponsor her sister Milly who is running the Race for Life this weekend.

Alice and her family are attempting to respond to everyone who has written to her giving their best wishes. They now have a team of friends helping with the task.

"Thank you so much for all your lovely messages to me," she wrote.

"I don't sleep very well and I sat up all night reading them as they came in from all over the planet, every single one, and they have made me smile so much so that is a good thing."

Cath Elliott, a feminist and trade union activist who almost deleted her blog after receiving a torrent of hate and abuse, wrote in The Guardian that Alice's bucket list reminded her of the internet's good side.

"It's shown that while sometimes the online world really can be a cesspit, it can also be a truly inspiring place, with people coming together from all over, united in a desire to actually do something good," she said.

40 comments

She is a braver kid than I could ever be in her shoes...

Good luck.

Commenter

Birdman

Location

Langwarrin

Date and time

June 10, 2011, 11:02AM

I think the lovely thing is that her wishes are not huge and are overwhelmingly about other people as well, not just her. Most are achievable and if she had led a normal illness free life and would live to adulthood may have just been part and parcel of life, the things we take for granted. Good luck to her and I hope she lives long enough to do the things on the list that are possible.

Commenter

dlg

Date and time

June 10, 2011, 11:10AM

Reading your story Allice brought a tear to my eye.Your one strong girl Allice.take care and hope you can full fill your bucket list

Commenter

Mick

Location

Sydney Australia

Date and time

June 10, 2011, 11:11AM

*Wipes away the tears* Alright people wear the hell do I go to donate bone marrow?

Commenter

Tyler

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 10, 2011, 11:12AM

Such a brave little girl.In her latest entry she says she has had to cancel seeing Take That because she is not well enough. The list was only ever a dream, and Alice is smart enough, and realistic enough, to know that.

Commenter

tk

Date and time

June 10, 2011, 11:15AM

What a beautiful human being. Why do all the remarkable people leave this earth too early.

Commenter

R

Date and time

June 10, 2011, 11:17AM

It just shows we shouldn't take life for granted.

Off to write my list............

Commenter

virago

Location

HK

Date and time

June 10, 2011, 11:19AM

@ Tyler

Start with the Bone Marrow Register : http://www.abmdr.org.au/

Commenter

Megalania

Date and time

June 10, 2011, 11:22AM

Great work, what a lovely story.

To register to donate bone marrow, or find out more information about donating, see this page at the Red Cross: http://www.donateblood.com.au/get-involved/bone-marrow-donation

Or talk to them next time you donate blood. You do donate blood, right everyone? It's one of the simplest things you can do to help people who are suffering from illnesses like cancer, like Alice and so many others. It's so wonderful that Alice's wish list didn't just include things for herself, but was about helping others. What an amazing person she is.

Commenter

JessB

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

June 10, 2011, 11:23AM

Tyler - this is the link you need. http://www.abmdr.org.au/

They do have the same criteria as blood donation which unfortunately rules out a whole heap of Aussies who have lived in the UK between 1 January 1980 and 31 December 1996 for a total (cumulative) period of 6 months or more.